Health And Freedom

          And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

           So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

          For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

          For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

           There’s a meme I see now and again that talks about the churches being hospitals. They aren’t there to treat the healthy/righteous, but to care for those dead in sin/sinners. The idea may have come from today’s first passage. The metaphor for the second passage is legal rather than medical, but it’s the same idea. Freedom and health are found in Jesus.

            For some, the idea this engenders is that we should bring the sick and enslaved into the church in hopes that someday, their sin-sickness will be cured or their shackles removed, and until then, it’s a long-term care facility where the illness is permitted, ignored, tolerated, and even celebrated.

           If the Church is a hospital, the whole point of a hospital is to cure and heal, not to pretend they aren’t sick until they get better. Those who say that it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to heal and free and that we shouldn’t try to usurp His role are correct, but if you read through the letters to the churches in Revelation, the leaving of their first love and tolerance of sin and those committed to sin are among the main charges Jesus makes against them. In I Corinthians, Paul takes the church in that city to task for their tolerance of a couple who were sinning.

           Yes, by all means, the church is to be a place where people are accepted, loved, educated, edified, encouraged, and enlightened. It is not a place where sin is to be accepted, celebrated, encouraged, or empowered. Unfortunately, some people we welcome aren’t seeking healing or freedom. They come to evangelize the Church. They come as “Angels of Mercy” to kill, further infect, or enslave those who seek healing and freedom.

          Like the many ploys human-traffickers supposedly use to lure the unsuspecting away, these folks are con artists and gas-lighters, tricking others to get them into their power and then using them to further their agendas. We not only need to be watchful for our own sakes, but watchful lest we become unwitting mules for their lies.